I'm at the beginning of my investment career, fresh out of college and pretty heavy in debt at 7% interest.

When the IRA invests in real estate using debt not only does it have to be non-recourse but the IRS says, you can use leverage but since you aren't only using IRA money for this investment the retirement account is going to pay UBIT on the income generated because of the debt. 

If you're a good student and can get into a good college without going very deep into debt, I believe you should go.

I do not see that home prices have dropped 2-3% and this is a lot of added savings in additional to a downpayment if so. 

Some additional details needed:1.

prices are high, interest rates are high, there is tremendous demand for inventory, and - one thing that doesn't get mentioned enough - a record number of properties are debt free. 

To that end I just paid off yesterday my last legacy bank debt took me 12 years but its done an gone now. 

It’s easy to manipulate projected returns by making a few small adjustments in the underwriting and proforma.There is nothing guaranteed with any investment.A few additional comments:1. 

In addition to the issues with debt costs, the properties don't seem to be functioning in a manner that will lead to profitability or even break even.

A good DST would absorb the rest of your debt nicely.